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How to preserve vitamin C in your food
How does vitamin C becomes spoiled?
- In contact with the air: We must note that vitamin C easily decomposes in contact with air. So, it is appropriate to peel your fruits just before eating them. Vegetables should be as fresh as possible. They should not be stored for long.
- In water: Vitamin C is also water soluble, That’s to say, it dissolves in water, so it is interesting not to clean your vegetables or fruit for too long or to leave them into water. Vitamin C dissolves in the broth when we cook vegetables, so broth should not be discarded.
- Because of heat: Heat destroys vitamins C. The deterioration of this vitamin depends on the time it is submitted to heat, but it has been found that normal cooking often destroys up to 50% of the content in vitamin C. Cooking must be done as quickly as possible and with the lowest possible temperature.
Which is the best way to cook food to preserve vitamin C?
The best way to keep this component is to cook with a microwave, because it takes place without the presence of water and the cooking time is very short.
Pressure cookers are very interesting, because although they work in high temperature, the cooking time is also very short.
Equally interesting is stem cooking without the presence of water.
If you must use oil, it is best to do it with the necessary amount to cover your vegetables completely, so that cooking is done quickly.
Fresh foods have more vitamin C.
Frozen foods have a similar amount to fresh ones.
Canned foods have little vitamin C.
Other tips to preserve vitamin C in your foods
- Cut large pieces so that the surface of your food is less exposed to contact with air.
- Do not peel the fruit pieces too much in advance before eating them, so as the air does not destroy vitamin C.
- Cover the pots with the lid during the cooking time.
- Use cooking methods with little water whenever possible, such as steam cooking or microwave cooking.
- When cooking with water, is better to leave it boil before putting the vegetables in. By doing this, we shorten the cooking time.
- Soaking the vegetables is a habit that destroys many vitamins.
- Copper pans destroy vitamin C.
- The practice of adding bicarbonate to vegetables spoil its vitamin C content.
- Do not waste the broth of vegetables, when cooked with water, as most of vitamin C is dissolved in it. These can be used to make other meals.
- Once cooked, vegetables must be eaten as soon as possible and should not be kept for the next meal, because vitamin C is easily destroyed.
More information about vitamin C.
